Today on our morning walk we found rabbit tracks in the snow, and long thin trails of deer prints. I love following these; crossing the vast white field, ending in the black water of the creek, circling bits of green in a spot of thaw. I see them in my mind's eye, quiet, watchful, looking for food, making it through cold, deep, lonely winter....like all of us, in our own way.

I am glad Christina at soul aperture has invited all of us to her third 'simple things' blog event, inspired by her observation that it seems alot of us are having a difficult time right now.

I myself feel as I often do in the deep of winter, a somewhat confusing mixture of reflective, worried, hopeful, wondering, creative, isolated, homely...

Last night I asked my husband, what will this year bring? Will it be kind to us? Will it be a so-called 'good year'? But who can really say? At this thought, a voice told me loud and clear:

"Just take it day by day."

Day by day, my friends. That's how we're takin' it.

I am so glad we have each other to share those days with.

Hope to see your tiny treasures soon, a piece of your home, a collection of humble beauty.

I must apologise for my lack of tiny treasures. The only time I have during the week is early morning or evening and they are currently dark and I simply forgot this weekend! Will try to find some little lovelies next weekend xoxo

What a great idea and what beautiful pics! I love nature myself...an one of my greatest pleasures is finding nature bits on my walks. I have collected so many interesting little things that I've started to have to destash them so I made little specimen jars out of them. Nice to hear other share my passion for nature...♥

These are so lovely! I make them, too, and I sometimes make treasure boxes with old painters' boxes and my finds from walks. I love seeing everyone's treasures all gathered in one place here on your blog.

hello! i came over from silke@metamorphisis, what a lovely, beautiful blog you have. i've enjoyed myself so much looking through your photos and posts. you are such a sweetheart,i really just want to hug you and kiki too! i have many many dear and precious finds that i've collected over the years. maybe i will take some photos too!it's so nice to meet you sweet country girl, stay warm,♥ lori

Day by day is always best I think...that is how I am approaching my year - and trying to remain optimistic and plan lots of fun things!I love some of these collections above - the pine and the red ribbon particularly stand out and the bowl with mushrooms...so pretty! xxx

What a lovely post, once again. Thank you for including me; the nature tables look so beautiful and calming together. Thank you for providing us the opportunity and motivation to brave the not-so-nice weather and go out into the cold, looking for beauty. It was fun and I found that I wasn’t focusing on the fact that I was chilling to the bone:).

I think you’re right in taking life day by day. It’s so hard to not get caught up in the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘I hopes’ and the ‘when wills’….. even if we have to repeat those little words in our heads, ‘day by day, day by day’, I think that is exactly what we have to do. Thank you, and all of the other beautiful bloggers out there, for providing a little bit of distraction to the ‘what ifs’ and for sharing daily pieces of beauty from around the world. It really is comforting to know that, though it sometimes seems we’re alone in our times of sorrow, we’re not. Someone else is feeling the same way.

We’ve almost made it through January. My milestone is always February. Once we get through February, things start to brighten and warm up. So February is a good time to research new hobbies, read about gardening, drink lots of tea, watch cute girly movies, read good novels, feel sad when you want, wrap up in yourself and hibernate. Then, come March, you’ll be nice and strong and rested.